Driving gear for boats



3 Sheets-Sheet 1 A laEN'TOlR V. B. EDWARDS DRIVING GEAR FOR BOATS Filed Aug. 4, 1923 MN MN 3 Sheds-Sheet 2 fFbplZ 1925.

' V.YB. EDWARDS DRIVING GEAR FOR 'BO'ATS Filed Aug. 4. 1923 %N YjlHmnHn HIHHUUWU HI I H1 M NH: 1

F b, 17. 1925. R 1,526,327

v. B. EDWARDS DRIVING GEAR FOR BOATS Filed Aug. 4, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Feb. 17, 1925. i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VERE B. EDWARDEO'F CORAOPOLIS, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGN OR TO BRAVO CONTRACT- ING COMPANY, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYL- VANIAv DRIVING GEAR FOR BOATS.

Application filed August 4, 1923. Serial No. 655,697. 1 '0 all whom it may concern: by the wheel driving mechanism at the stern Be it known that I, Vnan B. EDwAnDs, a of the boat, reduce the twisting stresses to citizen of the United States, residing at which. the paddle wheel is subjected, and at Coraopolis, county of Allegheny, and State the same time provide means whereby all 5 of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and of the driving mechanism for the paddle 6 useful Improvement in Driving Gears for wheel extends along substantially the lon- Boats, of which the following is a full, gitudinal center of the boat. clear, and exact description. The precise nature of my invention will This invention relates to an improvement be best understood by reference to the ac- 1 in driving mechanism for boats, and more companying drawings, which will now be 65 particularly to driving mechanism for drivdescribed, it being premised, however, that ing paddle wheels located at the stern of various changes may be made in the details towboats. of constructions of the driving mechanism,

In some forms of boats of this character, without departing from the spirit or scope the paddle wheels are driven by connectof my invention as defined in the appended 70 ing rods, located one at each end of the claims. wheel, these rods being connected at one Figure 1 of the drawings is a sectional end either to crank pins on the wheel or plan View of the stern of a boat of the barge cranks on the wheel shaft and at the other type, having a paddle wheel extending end to crank pins or cranks connected to a acrossvery nearly the full width of the 7 transverse driving shaft on the stern of the boat, together with driving mechanism conboat, but forward of the wheel. This drivstructed in accordance with my invention. ing shaft is in turn driven by a suitable Figure 2 is a sectional view along the motor. line II II of Figure 1;

In other forms the paddle wheel is driven Figure 3 is a plan view of a modified from a transverse driving shaft by two form of paddle wheel driving mechanism; sprocket chains, one at each end of the padand dle wheel, cooperating with sprocket wheels Figure 4 is a detail sectional view of a on the end portions of the driving shaft. portion of the paddle wheel shown in Fig- 30 In both of the above mentioned forms of ure 3.

driving connections, considerable space is In the drawings:

taken up at both sides of the deck at the The reference character 2 designates the stern of the boat; also, in the first case, the hull of a boat of the barge type, having wheel is subjected to twisting stresses caused substantially parallel sides and a truncated by the shock when the speed of the wheel stern which is substantially the full width increases, due to the crank pins on the wheel of the beam. The hulls of boats of this passing through the plane of zero power apcharacter are usually very shallow, the en plication. gines or motors being usually near the bow In the second mentioned form of drive or forward end of the boat, and the driving 40 the chains not only take up space on both or paddle wheel at the stern of the boat, sides of the deck, but frequently one of the considerable of the intermediate deck porchains will stretch to a greater extent than tion of the boat being utilized as cabin space the other, so that the major portion of the for the officers and crew. power, and very frequently the entire power In boats of this kind the main driving 45 for driving the wheel, is applied at one side shaft 3 usually extends from the motors or or end thereof. This variation in the engines rearwardly under the deck or statelength of the chains will also throw all of rooms to the stern of the boat. In the the power on one end of the driving shaft, form shown, the rear end of the shaft 3 is so that both the aaddle wheel and the drivrotatably mounted in a hearing t and can 50 ing shaft will e subjected to excessive ries a pinion 5. Rotatably mounted in twisting stresses due to the unbalanced bearings 6 connected to suitable framing drive. and above the level of the deck is a. longi- One of the objects of my invention is to tudinal shaft 7 This shaft, as well as provide an efficient drive whereby I am shaft 3, extends longitudinally at approxienabled to economize in deck space utilized mately the center of the boat.

As illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, two paddle wheel sections 8 may be connected to a shaft 9, journalled in bearings 10 on a frame work 11 extending rearwardly from the hull of the boat.

Rotatably mounted in suitable bearings 12 on frame work supported from the deck of the boat is a short transverse shaft 13. Connected to the jack-shaft 13 is a bevel gear 14: meshing with a similar gear 15 secured to the'end of the shaft 7. Carried by the shafts 9 and 13 is a combined gear supporting frame 16 and gear casing provided with bearings for a short shaft 17 and its gear 18. The gear 18 meshes, at one side, with a gear 19 on the shaft 13 and on the opposite side with a gear 20 on the shaft 9 of the paddle wheel. The three gears .13, 19 and 20 are enclosed l y means of the gear casing 16, while the bevel gears 1-1: and 15 are enclosed by a casing 21. A separate rasing 22 may be provided for enclosing a gear 23 on the shaft 7, meshing with pinion f of the main driving shaft 3.

The gear frame 16 is of the floating type and is entirely supported by the shafts 9 and 13, so that if either side of the frame work is bent by the bumping of the boat and thereby shift the bez lrings 10 and shaft 9 out of their normal positions or alignment relative to the boat, the frame work 16 will be shifted with the shaft 9 and thereby avoid any binding ofv the gearing.

In the form shown in Figures 3 and 4, I have designated parts corresponding to parts already described by the same reference character showing the letter a affixed thereto. In this embodiment,- the paddle wheel driving gear 20 is substantially the same diameter as the outer edge of the paddle. This gear is preferably made up of segments secured within a channel :25 supported by means of spider 26 extendin radially from the hub of the paddle wheel.

The shaft 13 is operatively driven from shaft 7 by means of bevel gears 1% and 15. Obviously, the reduction between the gears for driving the paddle wheel and the gear on the shaft 7 need not be so great as in the form first described, as the diameter of the gear 20 is very much greater than the diameter of the corresponding gear 20.

The advantages of my invention result from the provision of driving mechanism for the paddle wheel at the stern of a boat in which substantially all of the driving mechanism is placed in a plane'extending through the longitudinal center of the boat. This enables a paddle wheel of greater effcc tive width to be used.

A further advantage results from the provision of a gear supporting frame for the gearing between one of the driving shafts and the paddle wheel shaft, which is floatingly supported by said shafts.

Further advantages arise from the reduction in straining stresses on the driving mechanism the paddle wheel and on the frame for supporting the driving mechanism.

Still further advantages arise from the increased deck space available for use by reason of the concentration of the driving mechanism.

I claim:

1. In a tow boat having rearwardly ,eX- tending frame members on opposite sides thereof, a paddle wheel shaft journaled in bearings on the frame members and extending transversely of the boat, a transverse jack-shaft, a longitudinally extending power shaft, gearing connecting the jack-shaft to the power shaft, a gear frame floatingly supported by the jack-shaft and the paddle wheel shaft, and gearing connecting the jack-shaft to the paddle wheel shaft, some of which is carried by the floating frame, substantially as described.

2. In a tow boat having rearwardly eX tending frame members on opposite sides thereof, a paddle wheel shaft journaled in bearings on the frame members and extending transversely of the boat, a transverse jack-shaft, a longitudinally extending power shaft, gearing connecting the jack-shaft to the power shaft a gear frame floatingly supported by the jack-shaft and the paddle wheel shaft, gearing connecting the jack shaft to the paddle wheel shaft, some of which is carried by the floating frame, and a gear casing connected to the floating frame covering the gearing between the jack-shaft and the paddle wheel shaft, subs'tantially as described.

3. A tow boat of the barge type having a two-part stern paddle wheel, a shaft for the paddle wheel extending transversely of the boat, bearing supporting frame members for the shaft extending rearwardly from the hull of the boat and at the sides thereof, a power shaft extending longitudinally of the boat, a transverse jack-shaft at the stern of the boat, gearing connecting the jack-shaft to the power shaft, a gear wheel connected to the paddle wheel shaft between the two parts of the paddle wheel, a gear on the jack-shaft in alignment with the gear on the paddle wheel shaft, a floating gear frame supported on the jack-shaft and the paddle wheel shaft, and an intermediate gear journaled on the floating rame meslring with the gear on the jacli shaft and the gear on the paddle wheel shaft, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

VERE B. EDXVARDS. 

